Ball Joint Replacement Cost

How Much Does Ball Joint Replacement Cost?

A pivotal part of a vehicle's suspension system, a ball joint has a round ball-like head that swivels inside a cup-like socket. Usually there are four ball joints in a car's front suspension, with an upper and lower one on each wheel. Depending on the wear pattern on the suspension system, it can be necessary to replace one, two or all four ball joints.

Typical costs:

Hiring a mechanic to replace four ball joints (two per wheel on front suspension systems) can cost $350-$2,200 or more, depending on the make, model and year of the vehicle; how difficult it is to access the ball joints and whether the work is done at an independent or chain repair shop, or at a car dealership. In general, luxury or exotic vehicles will be at the upper end of the price range for this repair. To replace one or two ball joints, CostHelper readers report paying $260-$1,450, for an average of $522. To replace four ball joints, CostHelper readers report paying $360-$2,000, with an average price of $677.

Basic parts for a do-it-yourself project start around $30-$100 per ball joint, or $125-$400 for four, but it can cost more for luxury or rare vehicles. Some ball joints are connected to the control arm in one assembly, which must be replaced as a complete unit; part kits for this average about $500-$650. CostHelper readers report paying $112-$400 or an average of $249 for do-it-yourself materials for a project that took three to six hours of work.

Although ball joints are generally durable, they can wear out eventually and the ball won't fit in the socket as well as it did originally. Depending on the vehicle, driving habits, driving conditions and wear patterns, a ball joint can wear out at 30,000 miles, 100,000 miles, 150,000 miles or more. Symptoms that a ball joint might need replacing include a clicking or thumping noise when going over a bump or hitting a pothole, or a shake, shimmy or vibration in the steering. A mechanic can measure the looseness of the old ball joint to determine whether it should be replaced. The California Bureau of Auto Repair has an illustrated overview of ball joints[1] .

Popular Mechanics[2] rates the difficulty of replacing a ball joint as moderate, but says if the vehicle requires the use of a spring compressor it's better to hire a professional mechanic. MobilOil.com[3] rates the project as difficult and estimates it takes an average of three hours.

Additional costs:

Some vehicles require a wheel alignment($130-$850 per axle) after replacing the ball joints; check the vehicle's specifications to see if an alignment is needed (it isn't always necessary).

Discounts:

A CostHelper reader in Illinois reports buying parts for a 1995 Ford Explorer for $50 at Autozone in 2010, and paying a local mechanic $200 for labor to replace the ball joints.

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extensive work, tons of rust from the illinois winters, not hard labor if you have the right tools, had to drind ball joint nuts w angle grinder as i snapped 1/2 breaker bar on them. probably a total of 4 hours, as i made many trips to autozone.

I debated whether to replace these myself. I know I could of saved a bunch of money, but at what cost to my sanity... this job Is rated at $430 labor ($80 / hr), but by the time I get the parts, tools and get the truck off the floor, Id already be stressed out and I better finish the job.

Local shops wanted to charge over 1000$ plus front end alignment probably because of older communinty but oRiley had a sale n got upper n lower for 150 and was 6 hours of work. PS: if u don't have press it will take longer

Watched th utube vids. Not accurate at all. 95 Corolla takes about 20 minutes each side. Took longer to get the cotter pins. $48 for parts, $45 for cheap impact from Harbor Freight and 4 cups of coffee and it was done

Lowers were difficult. Had to drop subframe a couple inches to remove a couple bolts. Use a long breaker bar is the only way to break the nuts loose. Parts bought on EBAY. Make sure you get the correct nuts and bolts. The car was a 2009 Ford Fusion with 98xxx mi. Only 2 bushings were bad but replaced all of them because I only wanted to drop subframe once and not when snow was on the ground.

Paid 30 bucks for 2 new ball joints. Rented the press for 100 bucks (got it back when returned). Before this I've never even changed a brake pad. Took me 8 hours for one side, 2 hours for the other (figured out how to do it). Saved several hundred dollars while learning a lot.

I did not even know how to change my oil. One day I took my ford ranger for a ball joint replacement at the local shop: they quoted for more than 800. Scared with such thing, the next day I decided to buy my tools and a repair manual, since then I've done my own work on all cars I have ever had (Chevy, VW, Ford, Mazda, Honda) and save a lot of money and time.

Needed all 4 ball joints replaced. I bought the parts at Autozone for about $80.00 and installed them myself using a floor jack and jackstands. It was a hard job that took about 8 hours (I did not have a ball joint fork or a press.) I had the 2 link pins and the alignment done at Firestone ($230.00). It was a real job but saved a bundle.

Replaced all 4 ball joints and repaired inner CV joint on the passenger driveshaft after a passenger side lower ball joint snapped on my girlfriend's car. Passenger side took be about 10 hours, driver side only took 2.5 hrs after knowing what I was doing. Lots of helpful repair videos on youtube! Save yourself some bucks! Type in your year, model, and repair need into google and watch a few videos on the repair, then go do it!

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